Priest´s kidney donation inspires people

A Catholic priest has set a rare example by donating his kidney to a Hindu man and at the same time helping to launch a new organization that aims to help kidney patients.

Father Davis Chiramel who donated his kidney to a Hindu man

On Sept. 30, doctors at a leading hospital in the southern Indian state of Kerala surgically transplanted one of Father Davis Chiramel´s kidneys into Gopinathan Chakkamadathil, who has been ill for the past two years.

Father Chiramel is pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church Vadanappilly, a parish in Trichur archdiocese, where Chakkamadathil lives.

“I could not find a better way to celebrate the Year for Priests than this,” the 49-year-old priest told UCA News two days before the operation.

He said his gesture was also aimed at promoting kidney donation among people, besides helping just one poor family.

The priest´s organ donation helped launch the Kidney Federation of India that day. The organization aims to promote kidney donation and raise funds to help patients who cannot afford dialysis or transplants.

Chakkamadathil, an electrician, said the Catholic priest came to his rescue at a time when he was “unwillingly” awaiting death.

“I am a poor man and it was impossible for me to afford a kidney transplant,” he told UCA News before the surgery.

The father of two sons, aged five and 11, said he was leading a “quite contented life” with his meager income when he contracted a fever in 2007. He received “a rude shock” when doctors at a Catholic hospital told him that both his kidneys had failed.

Since then, Catholics of the Vadanappilly parish have supported his three-times-a-week dialysis treatment.

Gopinathan Chakkamadathil, recipient of the priest’s kidney

Father Chiramel said he heard about Chakkamadathil´s illness from his parishioners who were trying to raise funds for a kidney transplant. He recalled feeling dejected upon hearing the news and had prayed for many days. He finally decided to help the poor family by donating his kidney.

The priest said he did not want to leave the Hindu man to the mercy of racketeers who charged exorbitant prices for organs.

“But it was a painful decision and many people discouraged me,” said the priest, who is also the general secretary of the Accident Care and Transport Services that helps road accident victims.

Nevertheless, he went ahead with his decision and “by the grace of God, all tests showed my kidney was suitable.”

Father Chiramel says the kidney donation was a God-given chance to preach through deeds rather than words.

His decision worried parishioners, however, who organized special prayers for his well-being and Chakkamadathil´s speedy recovery.

Father Chiramel “is a model for all of us,” Lewis Francis Mangan, a parish trustee told UCA News. “The whole parish is behind him because he is doing a great thing.”